We packed up the van the night before and the morning of our departure my mom loaded us up with lots of fresh fruits and veggies, spices, snacks, and goodies. We also stopped by Aldi and picked up a few other items and headed for the Skyline Drive entrance in Front Royal, VA.
We knew it would be a possibility that Skyline Drive would be closed due to the recent weather and icy road conditions and sure enough it was closed. We asked the Ranger if there was a possibility of it reopening within the next day or two and were told that our chances we not good especially since another system of winter weather was headed that way bringing with it more ice and snow. The Ranger thought that possibly sometime the following week it may open.
We didn't have that kind of time so we decided to make our own Skyline Drive. We headed west towards the George Washington & Jefferson National Forests and decided to take Fort Valley Road south through the National Forest. The road conditions were clear and the views were spectacular. I remember driving through the National Forest during the summers as a child and visiting the natural springs, but I had never been there in the winter.
We made our way to the summit of one of the mountains and met a pair of gentlemen who had been out bear hunting. They had stopped at the summit to make a phone call. The higher elevation allowed for better cell phone service. We chatted for a bit then went on our way.
We reached the end of Fort Valley Road and decided to head for Luray ,VA, then changed our minds and headed for Waynesboro, VA in hopes of hopping on the Blue Ridge Parkway.
On the way George tried to clean the windshield and the wipers would not wipe. So we had windshield washer fluid all over the windshield with no way to get it off.
We finally pulled over and cleaned the windshield and played around with the wipers. They would not work, but at least we had a clean windshield again!
We continued toward Waynesboro but it was quickly becoming dark so I started to look for a place for us to spend the night. We found Braley Pond in George Washington National Forest and changed direction and headed west. We made it to Braley Pond and after a little searching found where we thought we were allowed to camp. It was about 6pm by then and very dark out. We found a campsite we were happy with and settled in.
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